Russia: Salvation Army Wins Case in Constitutional Court

Moscow, 5 March 2002 (RFE/RL) -- The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination, has won a court case preventing its liquidation in Moscow for failing to re-register as a religious organization. The Keston News Service, a London-based agency covering religious issues, reports that the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has overruled lower court findings.

Lower courts had ordered the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army be liquidated. The Moscow city government had blocked the group's re-registration, then sought to liquidate it and seize its property on the grounds it had failed to re-register.

The Salvation Army operates freely in other Russian cities and regions. It has continued its services to the poor and elderly in Moscow under its federal registration.